Good news thrifty diners, you’re not the only ones asking to share dishes at restaurants these days. Thanks to the recession, it’s becoming acceptable for everyone to split their dishes, and restaurants aren’t complaining. “Now all bets are off,” said David Pogrebin, manager of the snazzy French restaurant Brasserie. “People are not ashamed of being frugal.”
eating
Recession Bargain: Lobsters Are Cheap, Cheap, Cheap
By 12.11.08
The New York Times says that due to the recession there is a glut of available lobster, which is driving down prices.
Can You Finish The 50 Pound Burger And Win $1,000?
By 12.1.08
ABCNews took a look at “Free if you can finish it” challenges all over the US — and even sent the reporter to attempt one — with the help of a championship competitive eater. So, was the 50-pounder a bargain?
20 Ways To Make The Most Of Your Groceries Without Spending An Extra Cent
By 7.13.08
Americans throw away a quarter of our food uneaten, which translates into serious wasted cash over time. The Guardian compiled an excellent list of ways to shop smarter so you end up buying what you need, and eating what you buy.
Restaurant Gives 25% Discount To Birthday Diners, Writes "Bug On Food" For Reason On Check
By 3.25.08
A restaurant in Dubai gave a 25% discount to a party of birthday diners after they found four bugs in their food. Says a restaurant official, “The guys thought being friendly and having a joke about the environment would relax the diners because it was a birthday, but unfortunately it didn’t.” We sort of think after the second or third bug, you should probably just comp the meal—and then shut down the restaurant for fumigation.
6 Ways To Save Money When Dining Out
By 3.11.08
RacerX at “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Money” has posted the 6 ways he and his wife save money when they go out to eat. Following all of them would make for a noticeably different experience at your favorite restaurant—perhaps more than you’d like. But even adopting a couple of these tips could knock 10% or more off your next fancy meal with the significant other.
Restaurant Week Returns To New York City
By 7.23.07
If you ever wanted a literal taste of the good life, this is your lucky week. Through the 27th, over 200 New York restaurants are throwing open their doors to New Yorkers on a budget. Participating restaurants offer a three-course prix fixe menu; $24.07 buys you lunch, while dinner costs $35.00. Some of the city’s top restaurants deign to welcome the relatively impoverished, including Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill, Le Cirque, and Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto’s Nobu. You can try to snag a reservation through OpenTable, but your best bet is to call restaurants directly. Don’t fret if traveling to New York is too much to sate your gluttony: Boston’s Restaurant Week starts on August 5th, with Washington’s starting the day after.
Consumers Speak: “Poison Street Sushi”
By 1.27.06
e to dinner at Bond Street Sushi in Manhattan. He’d patronized the place a few times, and noted that it was cool and swanky. Aside from going to Nobu, I’m not sure if swanky is the best advert for sushi – but we went nonetheless.
The Waiting Is the Hardest Part
By 1.27.06
Lest you think that we get pleasure out of bad service at restaurants, let’s get one thing straight: There’s nothing that pleases us more than to be able to immediately reward someone for doing a great job. Gratuity-based jobs are not without their faults, but as a customer it’s got a lot going for it.
This CEO Sucks Less: John Pepper of Boloco
By 1.25.06
Lest we leave you unable to eat food at all, we present this letter from John Pepper, the CEO of Boston’s Boloco restaurants (formerly ‘The Wrap’), which is the very model of how to handle a customer complaint, even when a company isn’t going to be able to address the specific complaint. It was sent to us by the pleased recipient.
Consumers Speak: Bad Waitress Prompts Epic Tale
By 1.25.06
We arrived and were shown to our table. No complaints there. We look over the menu, decide what we want to get, look over the menu some more, and discuss how my boyfriend has only been to Macaroni Grill one other time in his life (in Phoenix, Arizona; oddly enough, the service was memorably sub-par there as well, although it pales in comparison to this). After about 10-15 minutes, we realize that no waiter has come to our table, and that no one has even gotten us water. My boyfriend, thinking that maybe our waiter just doesn’t know that we’re there, goes up to speak with the host. He sits back down. Another 5 minutes pass.
And another 10 minutes will pass before you read everything after the jump.
Consumers Speak: Jimmy John’s Jimmies with Coupons
By 1.23.06
John B. writes:
I recently went in to Jimmy John’s (http://www.jimmyjohns.com/) in downtown Indianapolis. While some might consider them YASC (Yet Another Sandwich Chain), my wife and I love them. Their #6 is one of the few vegetarian items at a fast-food place I can order without changing the order. It is a delectable sandwich, and quite affordable. I walked in a few weeks ago to pick up dinner, greeted by the familiar wafting bread smell, anxiously awaiting my precious #6.
They Work for Them: The Center for Consumer Freedom
By 1.20.06
The Center for Consumer Freedom is a lobbying and media group that advocates ‘consumer choice,’ specifically the choice to consume fast foods, alcohol, and tobacco. Originally founded with money from a grant from the Philip Morris company (and launching as the ‘Guest Choice Network’), the Center for Consumer Freedom is currently funded by a long list of food and restaurant companies, including Coco-Cola, Monsanto, Tyson Foods, and Applebees.
Manhattan Eating: Delicious Discounts
By 1.19.06
While we doubt that we’re being given “inside information” as our source purports, the new ‘Delicious Discounts‘ program for Manhattan restaurants doesn’t seem half bad. The service aggregates over a thousand Manhattan (and soon Brooklyn) restaurants, searchable by proximity to your address. Each time you try a new restaurant—and we don’t yet know how Delicious Discounts can tell if it’s new to you—you “automatically receive 20-25% off your first order from that restaurant,” says our ‘source.’
